Hi everyone! This is my first fiction about HTTYD! I love those movies so much that I had to write something! I hope you'll enjoy it, HTTYD 2 was just amazing, the best movie ever!

Enjoy your reading, don't be too hard, English isn't my native language!

SPOILER INSIDE! SPOILER INSIDE! SPOILER INSIDE!

Read and Review :D

XXX

His hands behind his back, Hiccup stopped a moment his coming and going, just to watch the first rays of dawn brighten the sky of blazing colors. If usual this view delighted him, he felt nothing more than a dull, deep anguish this morning , and he started again pacing.

And yet, the night had started well.

As every evening, they were huddled one against the other, and had chatted until it was very late. It was a kind of ritual, which they followed for years, long before their wedding, the only difference was that now, when they spoke, they were cuddling, in their own bed, in their own home. Often, she asked him to tell her every detail about his flights with Toothless and then, with Stormfly. She was terribly frustrated to be nailed to the ground, but a pregnant woman, as tough and brave as she could be, had no place in the air, even Hiccup was in agreement with this.

Since the middle of her pregnancy, he was taking care of Stormfly, making sure that the dragon had enough exercise every day, even if Stormfly, reluctant at first, gave him some hot moments, in every sense of the word. A loud scream sounded from inside the house, a cry of pain that made him feel sick. He felt his knees going weak, as if his body was ready to crumble, but he didn't hesitate to run to stop Toothless, who had rushed to the front door growling and whimpering.

"No bud, it's… it's okay, nobody is hurting her, not really I mean… Don't worry buddy, everything is going to be alright… I guess…"

Toothless grunted again and stared at Hiccup as if he was responsible… and he was, in a sense.

He wasn't impressed by the threatening look, and twined his arms around the neck of the dragon to come there snuggling his face.

"Everything is going to be alright" he said in a whisper, as if trying to convince himself.

He understood that something was wrong when he felt her tightened against him, her face was twisted in pain and then her blue eyes were wide with surprise. She had just lost waters while the first pains already appeared.

He heard a new cry and had to suppress the urge to rush inside. He buried his head deeper against Toothless, trying to find a thin comfort in the hot and scaly dragon skin. Astrid was strong, she was strong and courageous, everything would be alright, and everything had to be.

As whenever he felt anxiety about to submerge him, he focused on the memory of their wedding day. Her radiant smile, the wild flowers braided in a Crown gently resting on her long blond hair, released for the occasion. Her dress was dazzling white, which made her looks like an angel.

A few years ago, if someone had told him that he would marry Astrid Hofferson and then start a family with her, he would have laughed in that person's face. Or he would have simply turned on his heels, thinking that it was again a joke at his expense. And yet it happened. And even years later, it still amazed him. The dragons had literally changed his life, he owed them everything.

When another cry came from the house, he froze, it was as if his blood had turned in to ice. What if...

"No… No, no what if, everything is going to be okay, it's fine, everything is okay..." he whispered, shaking his head in order to clear his feelings.

He knew that she was in good hands, their respective mothers looking after her.

Still, he would have liked to stay with her, to support her, to hold her hand, but Ayanelle Hofferson put him out, claiming that the men should leave to women what belonged to women. He had seen the skeptical gaze of Val, his mother, but she said nothing, after all, she was back for two years only. The legitimacy of her actions was still fragile in Berk, and she accepted that without blinking.

He had spent a sleepless night, and yet, he had never felt so awake. The scare he strove to ignore ran in his veins like a frigid fluid which paralyzed him at every cry. Astrid was not cozy, she was resistant, she had so many burns and wounds, and she had never moaned, had never complained. Then, hearing her shouting as if she was tortured, giving cries of agony, was probably the most terrifying thing he had had to live. He had never missed his father as much as he was right now. He would have given everything to hear his deep and powerful voice reassure him on what was going on.

"Hiccup!"

He jumped, releasing Krokmou and nearly dropping, his gaze staring at the gate, where Val stood in the doorway. She was livid.

"Go fetch Gothi, be fast"

He had the impression that the ground was collapsing under his feet. If they needed Gothi, it was bad, very bad. He wanted to rush inside, to run upstairs, to see Astrid, to take her in his arms, to hold her and to never let her go.

"Hiccup, move!"

The urgency in his mother's voice pulled him out of his lethargy. She turned away and disappeared inside while a new cry tore his heart and he couldn't suppress a sob. It was supposed to be a wonderful day, it was supposed to be a happy and magic moment, they were supposed to meet their first child with tears of happiness… Astrid… He couldn't lose her, he would be lost without her, he would die if something happened to her…

As if he felt that Hiccup was unable to formulate any coherent thought, Toothless nudged him slightly with his muzzle, inviting him to climb on his back, what Hiccup did automatically without even thinking about it. When he found himself before Gothi's house, which dominated the entire village asleep, he seemed to regain control of himself. He drummed at the door with his fists.

"Gothi! We need you! Astrid needs you, please!"

His voice broke. Fortunately, the door opened immediately, so fast that he wondered if Gothi was sleeping right behind it. The old lady had already passed a bag on her shoulder, she observed him for a few seconds, his distraught face, his eyes full of tears. She nodded and just went forward Toothless. The dragon leaned over his head to one side to watch her with curiosity, but remained still when she began to climb on his back. Hiccup rushed to help her and sat before her. A few seconds later they were in front of his house.

"Stay here buddy!" exclaimed Hiccup following Gothi inside.

They were welcomed with a long, appalling scream. Hiccup passed before Gothi, climbed the steps two by two, ignoring the squeak of his prosthesis that protested, and entered the room, sending the door against the wall in a loud bang. Val and Ayanelle Hofferson stared at him with surprise.

"Hiccup? Where is Gothi?"

"Hiccup, you have to get out!"

But he wasn't listening. He felt like he had been stabbed in his chest, as if he couldn't breathe anymore, as if his lungs were empty.

He was facing Astrid, and this vision, he was sure, would haunt him for his entire life.

Her skin was so pale, almost grey, glowing with sweat, her breathing was so low that her chest was barely raising, and a pool of blood spread on the bed, between her legs three-quarters covered by a sheet. He felt a taste of bile in his throat and had the impression that the world was quivering.

"Astrid…"

He felt like he yelled, but only a whisper escaped his lips. Two hands seized him firmly by his shoulders and led him out of the room, he had time to see Gothi already busy around her patient before the door closed.

"Hiccup, you can't do anything for her, you have to trust us... "

His mother's voice made him finally react. His eyes filled with tears.

"Mum..."

He had never felt so small, so insignificant, so useless... His feeling of helplessness was overwhelming.

Everything seemed to take a dramatic turn around him. Toothless, his leg, his father... And now his wife… He felt like a little boy, but if he was grateful to have his mother back, he missed his father so much. Their relationships were not simple when he was a teenager, but during his childhood, it was his father who consoled him when he was injured or when he had a nightmare... His father was the one present in good and bad moments… And now, he was gone, and Hiccup had to face all this without his help. His duties as the new chief, his wedding, him becoming a father. It felt so wrong, he still needed his father…

"My boy… She's strong, she's going to be fine…"

He burst into tears, his mother hugged him. Toothless, who heard the cries of the young Viking from the outside, went up upstairs. He put his snout against Hiccup, and waited with a low purr. His big eyes expressed a sadness so human that a new wave of tears hit him. Losing Astrid was unthinkable. She was his best friend, with Toothless, and she was the person around which he had built his universe, she was his heart and his soul, they had lived so many things, despite everything, they were more and more in love with each other.

Astrid was a warrior, she would win this one, she had to. He remembered her sighing, hugging Stormfly, muttering about how sick she was of being trapped in her own body. And he couldn't help but have a smug smile, which inevitably owed him a punch in his arm. But he couldn't stop it, seeing her belly growing around their treasure, around the result of their love, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, and he felt incredibly lucky. What if she died? What if they died?

A cry startled them, Hiccup wanted to rush to the door, but Val stopped him. And then a terrible, deafening, silence descended in the house, a silence so heavy that Hiccup had the impression that the air was solidified in his lungs and around him.

"No..." he whispered.

The pain he felt was overwhelming, he fell to his knees, then his heart began to throb when a low cry, a young and trembling vagitus, rose. The cry of a newborn. He immediately straightened, his heart beating at a great rate, his throat was tied, his eyes fixed on the door. It eventually opened, and Ayanelle appeared, carrying a small package wrapped in a fur with caution. With a smile, she handed him to Hiccup.

"Your daughter…"

When he extended his arms, he was shaking. He grabbed the newborn, and took his daughter awkwardly against him. He had faced dragons, criminals, warriors... But nothing seemed as scary as this tiny already sleepy girl in his arms. She had a small round face, slightly chubby and pink, she had long eyelashes, and thin blond hair dotted her skull. With a hesitant gesture, he caressed her cheek from the tip of his fingers. She was so sweet. So perfect despite the substances that were still covering her. His daughter, their daughter. His world came to be placed upside down by a tiny baby, he was a father, it was so new, so scary, he had the impression of being on the edge of a precipice to which he was irrevocably drawn. And he felt a breath of love, an instinctive, visceral love swell in his heart. His daughter... Toothless pushed him with his snout in his back, reminding him of his presence.

Hiccup couldn't help but smile, he turned to present the child to the dragon. Toothless stepped back at first, but his curiosity took the top. He approached hesitantly and sniffed the girl, who was still sleeping, unperturbed.

"This is my daughter, buddy, my baby, can you imagine, I am a father, Astrid and I are parents! You'll take of her, won't you? Just like you take care of Astrid…"

Toothless bent his head and released what sounded like a laugh, but that Harold knew identify as an assent. He turned to his mother, who took the baby against her with a radiant smile and overflowing love. Then he turned to Ayanelle.

"Can I see Astrid?"

She turned pale and his smile vanished. Hiccup swallowed hard while he had the sensation that an icy hand tightened around his heart.

"How is she? Tell me how is she!"

"She lost a lot of blood, she…"

But he left her no time to complete her sentence, he rushed in the room. Gothi was putting the blood-stained sheets in a corner of the room before turning to Hiccup.

He couldn't take his eyes of Astrid. Her hair had been braided, she had been changed, but her face was shiny with sweat and still pale. He knelt next to her, and took one of her hands in his own. She was so small, so still... so dead... Astrid's hands were never still, they were still active, full of life, they were rough, covered with burns, scars, they drove continually, to take care of the Dragons, to train in the use of weapons, even when she was just talking, her hands were moving. So the vision of her inert hand was worse than anything.

"Gothi told us that if she survives the day, she'll be saved. The child will have yak's milk in the meantime..." explained Val, who had entered without a noise behind him.

Hiccup nodded weakly. Gothi appointed two pots and a cup placed on a table.

"She had to drink this potion twice a day, a cup at noon, another at the nightfall."

Hiccup opened his mouth to answer, but he had to clear his throat.

"Thank you…" he said in a whisper so low that he wasn't sure if he had been heard, but Gothi nodded and headed for the door.

"Astrid is strong... "

With these words, Val went to see Gothi out, and Hiccup heard the door close. Silence descended again, terrible and oppressive. He had to do something, to talk, to act...

"Astrid… Our daughter… She's finally here… And she's so beautiful, you should see how tiny she is, she's as beautiful as you are, I haven't seen her eyes yet, she's deeply asleep, she takes it from me at least..."

His attempt at humor rang ominously without Astrid's wonderful laugh to accommodate his jokes.

"You have to wake up Astrid, you have to meet her, she... she needs you... I'm a disaster, you know how fast I can mess up everything, I can hardly take care of myself, I'm so clumsy, and it's scary, she's so tiny, so fragile, I need you to become a parent, we are supposed to do that together…You are strong, you are brilliant, you are so beautiful... You'll figure out what to do...Please, wake up, open your eyes, please…"

His voice died. He clung to her hand as if his life depended on it. The day was going to be long and grueling, but he would not let her go. No matter how much time it would take.